Pope Francis at Vigil: We are here as beggars of God’s mercy

By Christopher Wells

At a penitential service marked by testimonies of those wounded by abuse, war and lack of charity, Pope Francis asked forgiveness from God and from those who have been wounded by our sin.

The Penitential Vigil marked the culmination of the two-day Synod Retreat ahead of Wednesday’s solemn inauguration of the Second Session of the Sixteenth General Assembly of the Synod of Bishop.

Confession of sins

During the ceremony, seven cardinals expressed shame and asked forgiveness “on behalf of all in the Church” for sins against peace, against the environment, against the dignity of women, and against the poor; for sins of abuse and for using doctrine as a “stone to hurl” at others; and for sins against synodality.

“I wanted to write down the requests for abuse that were read by some of the cardinals,” the Pope said, “because it is necessary to call our chief sins by name.”

In his reflection following the confession of sins, the Holy Father emphasized that the Church, “in its essence of faith and proclamation, is always relational – and it is only by healing sick relationships that we become a synodal Church.”

“How could we be credible in mission,” he asked, "if we do not acknowledge our mistakes and stoop to heal the wounds we have caused by our sins?”

The parable of the Pharisee and the publican

Reflecting on the Gospel reading, which recounted Jesus’ parable of the proud Pharisee and the repentant publican, Pope Francis invited the faith to consider how often we in the Church have acted like the former.

How many times, he asked, “have we taken up all the space ourselves, with our words, our judgments, our titles, our belief that we alone have merit?”

Instead, Pope Francis said, “today we are all like the publican, our eyes downcast and ashamed of our sins. Like him, we lag behind, clearing the space occupied by conceit, hypocrisy, and pride.”

Restoring trust

Pope Francis said that Tuesday’s penitential service, on the eve of the solemn opening of the Synod, “is an opportunity to restore trust in and towards the Church, a trust shattered by our mistakes and sins; and to begin to heal the wounds that do not stop bleeding.”

Burdened as we are by the “humanity of our sin,” the Pope said, “We would not want this burden to slow down the journey of the Kingdom of God in history.”

Finally, Pope Francis turned to the younger generations, “who are waiting for us to pass on our witness,” to ask for forgiveness, “if we have not been credible witnesses.”

Seeking forgiveness

Following his reflection, Pope Francis summed up the request for forgiveness in a prayer to God the Father, saying, “We ask your forgiveness for all our sins; help us to restore Your Face that we have disfigured by our unfaithfulness. We ask forgiveness, feeling shame, from those who have been wounded by our sins.”

And he asked God to “give us the courage of sincere repentance for genuine conversion.”

The sign of peace and handing on the Gospel

At the conclusion of the Penitential Vigil, Pope Francis invited those present to exchange the sign of peace.

The Holy Father himself extended the sign of peace to those who gave their testimony earlier in the ceremony, and to a young man and a young woman, a seminarian, and a religious sister.

To these last, representatives of the young, Pope Francis then consigned a copy of the Gospel, entrusting to them and their contemporaries the mandate to proclaim the Good News to future generations, in the hopes of “a better mission, ever more faithful to the logic of the Kingdom of God.”